Malaysian medical student detained for five days in Moscow

A fourth year Malaysian medical student in Moscow was detained at the Sheremetyevo International Airport for five days after the airport's authorities claimed that his visa had an 'error' on it. M. Murugan Pillai, 23, a student of Russian National Research Medical University claimed he was stopped by the airport’s authorities upon returning to Russia after to pursue his studies. Despite various attempts to seek help from the Malaysian embassy in Moscow since his detention, Murugan claimed no aid arrived since the day he was detained on Sept 2. During his detention, he claimed to have been deprived of food as he was only given one meal per day. “I don’t know why they stopped me. They said my visa had an error on it but it (visa) is valid until Dec 2014 and I have a clean record at my university," said Murugan when contacted by Astro AWANI. The 1Malaysia Indian Student Movement (1MISM) president, D. Mahaganapathy Dass who highlighted the case said the embassy in Moscow and the Higher Education Ministry should respond to the allegation that they did not help the student. “The student was detained at the airport for five days and no immediate action was taken for the boy’s return,” he told Astro AWANI in a phone interview. Murugan’s mother, who is a single mother, had then sought assistance from Mahaganapathy to secure her son’s release. It is understood that Murugan was deported to Malaysia on Sunday and landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport early Monday at 7am. Murugan is currently staying at a relative’s house in Kuala Lumpur and said would proceed with the appealing process soon.